DIAGNOSTIC AND DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS OF PATIENTS SEEN IN OUTPATIENT PSYCHIATRIC CLINICS FOR AN ENTIRE STATE (MARYLAND): IMPLICATIONS FOR THE PSYCHIATRIST AND THE MENTAL HEALTH PROGRAM PLANNER

This study demonstrates the feasibility and utility of the routine collection of diagnostic and demographic data from all psychiatric outpatient clinics serving residents of a defined geographic area. These data added to existing mental hospital figures and supplemented by reports from private practicing psychiatrists and community agencies not under a psychiatrist's direction will provide a more complete identification of the community's mental health problems, an important step toward the ecology of mental illness.